Inspiring and empowering the young women of our region.
The Girls’ Network has existed since 2013 and aims to inspire and empower girls aged 14-19 from the least advantaged communities by connecting them to a mentor and a network of professional role models who are women. We reach girls via relationships with schools in London, Sussex, Portsmouth, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, the North East, Tees Valley and Merseyside.
Our mentors are all professional women, who are extensively trained and vetted by The Girls’ Network and volunteer to meet their mentees at least once a month for a year. Mentoring is a journey, helping mentees get from where they are to where they want to be. Why mentoring? Hazel and Amber’s story Hazel Rockingham, who became a mentor as part of our first Tees Valley cohort, explains what motivated her to get involved with The Girls’ Network.
“After seeing mentions of The Girls’ Network on LinkedIn and reading up about it, I really wanted to get involved as I related so much to the case studies on their website. I could see my younger self in the girls, and really connected to the mentors’ motivations as well. Growing up, I was very privileged to have a good support network around me, but I still didn’t have the aspirations that my close group of friends had. I was always that person who was good at many things but never excelled in anything in particular. Even when I looked at the activities I enjoyed, I still couldn’t visualise what that looked like as a career.
Fast forward from 1994, I have a degree in marketing, 26 years’ experience in various industries, 14 of which at management level. I can now see the confidence and determination to succeed came from the inspiring women I surrounded myself with: my amazing mother, my two wonderful grandmothers, my friends and some hugely inspiring women I had the privilege of working with over the years. When the day arrived, I was so pleased to be matched with Amber. We have had three mentoring sessions so far, and I can already see that Amber has started to challenge herself and create a vision for her future. I am delighted to be working with her and I feel privileged to help her shape and realise her goals.
If you have an hour a month to give and you’d like to get involved with The Girls’ Network by sharing your skills, knowledge and experience to help inspire the young women in our region, please contact Rosalind or Stacey.”
Amber’s point of view
“When I signed up for mentoring I was expecting to get some really useful and helpful ideas with what I wanted to do in my future and my career, and what steps and paths I would choose to be able to achieve my goals. It has 100% done that for me so far and I’m so pleased I was a bit brave and went for it. Generally I am coping well with lockdown and having someone to speak to regularly is helping me. Knowing that I’m not alone and still getting help and advice about my future is very reassuring because times are tough at the moment. I would recommend mentoring with The Girls’ Network to other girls my age.
It may seem a strange thing to do at first but, trust me, it makes sense very quickly and then it makes so many things easier and more achievable. Go for it.”
North East Network Manager – Stacey Wagstaff stacey@thegirlsnetwork.co.uk Tees Valley Network Manager – Rosalind Stuart rosalind@thegirlsnetwork.co.uk There are other ways to support The Girls’ Network if mentoring isn’t for you, such as donating, fundraising, partnering with us as a bus
